Sunday, January 10, 2010

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Giveaway & Review: Money Savvy Pig Teaching Bank [CLOSED]

Our oldest just turned 6! Every year in December, January, and February, he always receives some money for Christmas, his birthday, and Chinese New Year. This year, it became very clear that we need to start creating some good habits for him when it comes to spending money before we can even consider starting to give him an allowance. Right now, when he has any money, he is likely to want to spend it.

This opportunity to review the Money Savvy Pig could not have presented itself at a better time. This product provided enough guidance to help me explain the other possibilities that exist for money other than spending it. I know not all of it sunk in since my son is only 6, but I think some of it was understood.

What I thought about our Platinum Edition Money Savvy Pig:

1) The Platinum Edition Money Savvy Pig comes in this ready-to-wrap gift box, which is a plus if you are buying this item for a gift.

2) The design of this pig is very well thought out overall. It has four slots on its back, which lead into four separate compartments. Each compartment represents the money your child has opted to save, spend, donate, and invest. Then there are a sheet of labels, some preprinted and some blank, that you can place above each category to help remind your child of his or her goals.

3) Another smart thing about the design is that each of the four feet is also labeled. The covers come off and each releases the money that is in the corresponding compartment. I wish there was a way to make these covers hinged or connected to each foot somehow. I think if a child takes off all four feet, it will be a process to figure out which cover goes on which foot.

4) Explaining the four compartments was a challenge. I think my son eventually got the gist of it. When we were deciding what to label each compartment, he immediately wanted the car sticker for the "Spend" compartment because to him it represents toys . . . toy cars to be exact. When I asked him what he would like to save money for, he wanted to put the sticker for food because he thinks we don't have enough cookies in the house. When it came to deciding what cause he would like to contribute his money towards, I gave him some choices . . . the food pantry where my sister and BIL volunteer, the animal shelter, or the public library . . . all things he could relate to. He ended up choosing the animal shelter. His eyes just glazed over when I told him he should choose a college fund for the investment section. Good thing he just trusted me on that matter.

5) If your child is around my son's age, then he or she likely needs practice counting money. This was a wonderful opportunity for us to have a mini lesson involving coins.

6) After my son counted his money, we had to decide what percentage to put in each section. I was not surprised that he wanted to put the most in the spend category. So we put ended up putting 50% of his money into "Spend", 25% into "Invest", and 12.5% each into "Save" and "Donate".

7) My son did not have any dollar bills to put in his pig, but he will as soon as the Chinese New Year rolls around. The photos on the manufacturer's website do show bills inside the pigs. They can clearly fit through the slots if folded into quarters, but I am worried that they might not come out easily through the legs and feet. Maybe if the pig was slightly larger, then the openings on its feet would be larger so this would not be a concern.

8) I personally thought my son would prefer a translucent pig over the platinum so he could see his money growing, but he actually thought the platinum one was pretty cool because it was very shiny and had a mirror effect.

Thank you to Money Savvy Generation for sending us a bank on which to base this review and also for providing another bank for our contest prize.

What you can win:One lucky reader will receivea Money Savvy Pig (winner may choose from blue or green).

Limitations:This giveaway is open to U.S. addresses only. You do not need to be a blogger to enter, but you must have a valid email address and be age 18 years or older. If you enter anonymously and do not include a valid email address in your comment entries, I will not be able to notify you should you win this random drawing.

How to Gain Entries:Browse the products offered for different age groups on the Money Savvy Generation website. Then leave a comment telling me the name of one product and how it can help someone you know learn to manage their money.You MUST do this to be eligible to win this contest.

Extra Entries:

1) For 5 extra entries, leave a relevant comment on one of my non-giveaway posts. Then leave FIVE separate comments with the name of the post on which you commented. You will earn 5 extra entries for each different non-contest post you comment on.

2) For 5 extra entries, enter one of my other contests. Leave FIVE separate comments here telling me which contest you entered. You will earn 5 extra entries for each contest you enter.

3) For 10 extra entries, blog about this contest linking back to this post AND MSGen.com. Then come back here and leave TEN separate comments with the link to your blog post.

7) Tweet about this giveaway linking back to this post. Then come back here and leave the link to your tweet in a separate comment. You may do this once per day until the end of the contest.

8) Subscribe to this blog's feed. Or you can follow me through Blogger or subscribe via email (widget is on sidebar). Then leave a separate comment telling me you did so.

9) Add my button or blog link to your blog's sidebar. Then leave a separate comment with the link to your blog.

(All entries will be verified prior to awarding this prize.)

Random Drawing:This contest will be closed on Monday, January 25th, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. A random number drawing will be held shortly after. The winner will be announced here and will be contact via email or through their blog. If the winner does not respond within 48 hours, a new number will be drawn.